Lever actuated universal stopper for opened bottles

ABSTRACT

A stopper for opened bottles having an external body ( 1 ) provided with an upper opening ( 4 ) designed to allow rotation of a lever ( 8 ) having an eccentricity ( 9 ). Operation of the lever allows, through an intervening arrangement of a cylindrical helical spring ( 22 ), lowering of an internal body ( 16 ) against a toroidal spring ( 15 ) causing radial deformation of the toroidal spring to allow gripping of the neck of the bottle underneath a shoulder on the bottle neck.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

1. Background of the Invention

The present invention relates to a univeral stopper for opened bottles.In order to ensure the closure of opened bottles, various types ofstoppers have been devised, all of which can be substantially classifiedin two main groups: stoppers which perform closure of the bottle bycausing expansion of one of their components inside the neck of thebottle itself and stoppers which embrace the external surface of theneck of the bottle, making use of its shoulder to ensure a good grippingaction.

All these stoppers are provided with means designed to ensure removal ofthe stopper itself, if possible using a small amount of physical force.

A drawback present in many of the stoppers which are currentlycommercially available is that they may be difficult to adapt to thevarious types of necks which may arise.

2. Brief Description of the Invention

The object of the present invention is that of providing a stopper whichis extremely versatile and easy to use.

These and other objects are all achieved by the universal stopper foropened bottles according to the present invention, characterized in thatit comprises:

an external body which is substantially cylindrical and internallyhollow and provided with an upper opening designed to allow rotation ofa lever; the bottom part of said external body being provided with acircular opening designed to allow the neck of a bottle to pass throughand being provided internally with a circumferential flaring designed toseat a toroidal spring; said spring being able to perform externalcircumferential locking of the neck of the bottle underneath theassociated shoulder;

an internal body, which is substantially cylindrical and designed toslide longitudinally along the internal surface of the said externalbody, said internal body having its bottom edge in contact with thetoroidal spring;

a cylindrical helical compression spring which is positioned between thetop part of the internal body and a disk arranged in turn between thesaid spring and the lever; said spring being designed to convert therotational movement of this lever into the radial deformation of thetoroidal spring in order to compensate for the differences existing bothin the diameters of the necks of the various bottles and in the heightsof the various shoulders.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristic features will emerge more clearly fromthe following description of a preferred embodiment illustrated, purelyby way of a non-limiting example, in the accompanying illustrative platein which:

FIG. 1 shows a view sectioned diametrically along the vertical axis ofthe stopper, when the latter is in the open position;

FIG. 2 shows a view, sectioned as above, with the stopper in the closedposition.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the stopper when the latter is in the openposition;

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the stopper when the latter is in a closedposition;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the stopper when the latter is in the openposition; and

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the stopper when the latter is in a closedposition.

An external body 1, which is substantially cylindrical and internallyhollow, is composed of two portions 2 and 3, respectively an upperportion and a lower portion.

The upper portion 2 has an upper opening 4 which is substantiallyconfigured with a slit centred and oriented parallel with respect to thecentral vertical axis of the external body 1. (see FIGS. 3-6)

Said upper portion has a crest 2 a centred with the longitudinal axis ofthe said upper opening; said crest is closed on three sides connected tothe external surface of the external body 1, while on the fourth side,facing the upper opening 4, it also has a slit with the same width asthat forming the said upper opening. The crest 29 provides a support forthe thumb during operation of the lever.

The bottom edge of the said portion has an external threading 5.

The top edge of the lower portion 3 is provided with an internalthreading 6 having a pitch corresponding to that of the said externalthreading of the upper portion 2; the bottom side of the lower portion 3is provided with a circular opening 7, the diameter of which is greaterthan the external diameter of the shoulder on the bottles.

The slit forming the upper opening 4 is intended to allow the partialrotation of a lever 8 provided with a central body having aneccentricity 9, with an operating arm 10 and an opening arm 11 extendingfrom the said central body.

Positioning of the lever 8 inside the upper opening 4 is performed bytwo identical semi-circular recesses 12, each of which is formed in thethickness of each of the facing sides of the said upper opening: saidrecesses have a diameter and depth corresponding to the diameter and tothe thickness of two circular projections 13 which are symmetricallylocated on the two opposite sides of the lever 8; the two saidprojections, together, form the pivot for rotation of the said lever.

Considering again the lower portion 3, the surface of its bottom edge isprovided with a circumferential flaring 14.

Said flaring acts as a guideway for a toroidal spring 15 having, in therest condition, an internal diameter which is greater than that of theshoulder on the bottles.

The external surface of an internal body 16 which has a substantiallycylindrical shape has an external diameter which is slightly less thanthe internal diameter of the upper portion 2.

The said internal body has at the top a circular diaphragm 17 providedin its centre with a blind recess 18; underneath said diaphragm theinternal body 16 is completely hollow and its bottom edge makes contactwith the toroidal spring 15.

Said bottom edge has a chamfering 19 directed towards the inside.

The lever 8 acts on a disk 20, the bottom side of which has integrallyattached to its centre a piston 21 having an external diameter which isslightly smaller than the internal diameter of the blind recess 18.

A cylindrical helical compression spring 22 is positioned,circumferentially around the piston 21, between the bottom side of saiddisk and the top side of the circular diaphragm 17.

A seal 23 is situated against the bottom side of the circular diaphragm17, said seal being intended to provide a sealing action against the topedge of the bottle.

In a variation of embodiment, not shown in the Figures, a small springis inserted between the seal 23 and the circular diaphragm 17.

The operating principle of the universal stopper for opened bottlesaccording to the present invention will now be described in connectionwith the reference numbers shown in the Figures:

Firstly it is checked that the operating arm 10 is positioned verticallyinside the slit-shaped upper opening 4, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Then the external body 1 is gripped and is positioned around the toppart of the neck of the bottle, inserting said neck into the circularopening 7 with which said external body is provided at the bottom.

In so doing the neck of the bottle penetrates inside the circumferentialcavity of the internal body 16.

The external body 1 is lowered until the top edge of the neck of thebottle comes into contact against the seal 23; at the same time, theblind recess 18 penetrates inside the neck itself.

Once the bottle has been positioned in the manner described above, thelever 8 is rotated, lowering the operating arm 10 retained between theindex finger and middle finger of the same hand which hitherto hasgripped the external body 1; the said lever, at this point, ispositioned as shown in FIG. 2.

Said rotation of the lever 8 is performed about the two circularprojections 13 which, together, form the pivot therefor inside the twocorresponding semi-circular recesses 12. During the course of saidrotation, the eccentricity 9 of the curved profile of the said levercauses downwards displacement of the disk 20 which is kept pressedagainst the said profile by the cylindrical helical spring 22 resting ontop of the circular diaphragm 17 of the internal body 16.

Said spring, always pressing the lever 8 upwards, ensures the stablepositioning of the circular projections 13 inside the respectivesemicircular recesses 12 and, consequently, the stable positioning ofthe centre of rotation of the said lever. The cylindrical helical spring22 cannot be displaced from its working position since it iscircumferentially positioned around the piston 21 which is in turnguided by the internal profile of the blind recess 18.

Lowering of the disk 20, by means of the intervening arrangement of thespring 22, causes lowering of the internal body 16; said loweringmovement causes the bottom edge thereof to press with force against theexternal surface of the toroidal spring 15, facilitating the grippingaction thereof on account of the internal chamfering 19 with which it isprovided. The toroidal spring 15, which is compressed from above, islowered, sliding along the circumferential flaring 14 and is radiallydeformed, thereby clasping the neck of the bottle and thus ensuringsealing thereof.

In order to ensure improved positioning stability of the stopper and,ultimately, a more effective sealing action thereof, it is importantthat gripping of the said toroidal spring on the neck of the bottleshould take place underneath the bottom edge of the shoulder,irrespective of the diameter of the necks and the height of theshoulders; for this purpose the presence of the cylindrical helicalspring 22 is decisive because its resilient action allows compensationof the differences which occur between the various types of bottles.When it is required to remove the stopper, the external body 1 isgripped again and, using a finger of the same hand, the lever 8 isrotated in an opposite manner to that which was performed for thestopper closing action, moving back its opening arm 11 projecting fromthe vertical profile of the crest 2 a.

In the above description specific reference was made to the fact thatthe connection between the upper portion 2 and the lower portion 3 ofthe external body 1 is performed by means of a threading, but it isobvious that this connection could be realized in other ways and usingother means such as, for example, force-fitting joints.

What is claimed is:
 1. Universal stopper for opened bottles comprising:an internally hollow external body having an upper opening; a leverpivotally mounted to said body and movable in said upper opening; anopening in the bottom part of said external body to allow the neck of abottle to pass through, said body having an internally circumferentialflared wall and a toroidal spring seated opposing said wall, saidtoroidal spring to perform external circumferential locking to the neckof the bottle, beneath a shoulder on the bottle neck; an internal bodywithin said external body to slide longitudinally along the internalsurface of said external body, said internal body having its bottom edgein contact with said toroidal spring; and a helical compression springpositioned between a top part of said internal body and a disk arrangedbetween said helical spring and said lever, said helical compressionspring being engaged by said disk and converting the rotational movementof said lever into radial deformation of said toroidal spring as saidlever is rotated to compensate for differences existing both in thediameters of the necks of the various bottles and in the heights of thevarious shoulders.
 2. Universal stopper according to claim 1 whereinsaid external body comprises an upper portion and a lower portionconnected by an external threading on the bottom edge of said upperportion and mating internal thread on the top edge of said lowerportion.
 3. Universal stopper according to claim 2 wherein the top partof said upper portion is substantially dome shaped and has an openingformed with a centered slit having a width slightly greater than thethickness of said lever to allow rotation of said lever.
 4. Universalstopper according to claim 3 wherein said upper portion has a crestcentered with respect to the longitudinal axis of the slit forming theupper opening, said slit continuing into said crest on the side thereoffacing said upper opening, the remaining sides of the crest beingclosed, said crest providing a support for the thumb during operation ofsaid lever.
 5. Universal stopper according to claim 1 wherein said leveris pivotally hinged on the upper portion of the external body by twoprojections symmetrically located on the opposite sides of said lever,said projections corresponding, in diameter and thickness, to thediameter and the depth of two semi-circular recesses each formed in thethickness of each of the facing sides of the upper opening, the two saidprojections together forming the pivot for rotation of said lever. 6.Universal stopper according to claim 1 wherein said lever has twosubstantially radial arms comprising an operating arm and an openingarm, both said arms being designed to be operated by the fingers. 7.Universal stopper according to claim 1 wherein the bottom internal edgeof said internal body has a chamfering to accommodate compression ofsaid toroidal spring against the neck of the bottle sliding along a partof said toroidal spring.
 8. Universal stopper according to claim 1wherein said cylindrical helical spring rests against a circulardiaphragm positioned below the top edge of said internal body, theinternal body below the said diaphragm being hollow and defining acavity to seat the neck of a bottle.
 9. Universal stopper according toclaim 8 wherein said circular diaphragm has in its center a blind recessforming a guide for the vertical sliding of a piston which is integrallyattached to the bottom side of a disk, said cylindrical helical springbeing around said piston.
 10. Universal stopper according to claim 1wherein the upper portion and the lower portion of said external bodycomprise force-fitting joints joining them together.
 11. Universalstopper according to claim 8 further comprising a seal positionedunderneath the circular diaphragm and a spring between the seal and thecircular diaphragm.
 12. Universal stopper according to claim 9 furthercomprising a seal positioned underneath the circular diaphragm and aspring between the seal and the circular diaphragm.